Seeing one of my old Lansing friends out in Portland and checking in at Bridgeport prompted me to go ahead and post this review. From what I recall – which isn’t all that much since Bridgeport was, like, my 8th brewpub of the day – it’s your typical Portland brewpub.

Awesome, that is.

The most impressive part about Bridgeport is the building. Mostly brick with a second story, towering ceilings, and just a pleasant atmosphere. Their IPA is one of my favorites from the Northwest, which is saying quite a lot. The beer as a whole wasn’t quite as good as some of the other places Portland has to offer, but it’s certainly still well above average. I remember the pizza being good, but not quite to my preferences. The crust was a bit floppy instead of thin and rigid. However, if you like floppy pizza, then this is your place.

Original Review

Yet another cavernous brewpub located in the Pearl District of downtown Portland. This brewpub resides in a giant brick building with an upscale/modern décor. Walking in you first find your way to a bar area with a few plasma screen TVs plenty of additional seating. Also in this area is the bakery, which must be a sight in the morning, to see all the dough and baking machines going full force. Continuing forward leads you to a dining room. If you look up, not only will you notice the giant ceilings, but you’ll see the stairs leading to the second level that has even more seating, another bar and two large televisions. Giant banners flow from the ceiling partitioning the bar area from the dining room, and a giant clock that tells something other than the time hangs over the bar. Everything about this place is huge.

The waiter told me they were known for their pizza, so their pizza is what I ordered. The toppings were fresh, chunky and fantastic. The dough and cheese were tasty. The center of the pizza, however, was floppy and could not support the weight of the pie. So whenever you pick up a slice, the bottom third toppings fall back onto the pizza pan unless it gets immediately supported by a second hand. I didn’t like the floppiness, but it tasted great. I also enjoyed a tart-shaped cheesecake topped with blueberries, which was good, but not spectacular.

Upstairs at Bridgeport.

They had a sampler of eight beers the day I came in. Everything was clean, concise and very good. I’d say on average, though, they are slightly below the rest of the top-notch Portland brewpubs. However, of note, is their IPA, which may be my favorite IPA of all-time. You can find it in abundance in the Pacific Northwest, and for good reason.

On that visit, however, (half a year later) my favorite was not their IPA. It was their seasonal named Hop Czar. This was like their IPA on steroids, and well know that steroids are performance enhancers…

The service was spotty. I couldn’t get them to turn one of the two televisions off of the Olympics and on to the NBA All-Star game. Apparently too many people were watching the Olympics, though I’m sure they could have just turned their heads the other way. And then when I left and walked downstairs, the NBA game was on down there. Super.